Goss-Cavendish: over to you two! But the rain could play a decisive role

The 9th stage, from S. Giorgio del Sannio to Frosinone, should be a battle between the two sprinters, but the bad weather is not just a variable. First stage won by Sagan in California

Cavendish two, Goss one. Rest of the world nil. Counting the sprints doesn't take long, nor does counting the number of sprinters left in the game, because so far Hushovd, Farrar and Bennati have all pulled out. The Australian from the GreenEdge team is wearing the red jersey and knows he is looking at one of his last chances, as do Bos, Renshaw, Ferrari, Demare, Chicchi, Modolo, Belletti, Sabatini and Hunter.

RAIN In the 166 km straddling the provinces of Benevento, Caserta and Frosinone there's not a hint of a slope. But there is a lot of rain, which started falling during the night and has been coming down for hours (the start is scheduled for 1.20 pm). This is a variable that not only ruined the mood of the riders at breakfast, but risks affecting the race, by giving an advantage to those brave riders who want to risk breaking away. In 1975 it was won by Enrico Paolini, ten years after Freuler, while in 2005 Luca Mazzanti cracked open the bubbly after Bettini was disqualified for foul play during the final sprint.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR The Canadian flag is still flying at the top of the general ranking, with Ryder Hesjedal 9" ahead of Rodriguez. The other big names are up there too: Basso at 40", Schleck at 48, Scarponi at 53, Cunego at 1'14", Gadret at 2'38 and Rujano at 2'39. The pink jersey had been waiting for this day like many others in the group: "We've had three difficult days, and we needed this". And he continues to enjoy his little daily triumph without worrying too much about what will happen in the last week. For example? "I don’t know the Stelvio mountain pass; I haven't studied Pampeago; and I've still got to look at Cervinia on the map. I'm not here to win the Giro d’Italia: I'd like to make that clear". You can't get much more relaxed than that...

sagan flies to victory in california Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, the Tour of California is dominated by Peter Sagan, who after his two wins in 2010 and one in 2011, also won the first stage of the 2012 edition, when it was night time in Italy. On the final stretch at Santa Rosa the Slovakian from the Liquigas-team gave a demonstration of power, not leaving any hope for his rivals, with Haussler second and Rodriguez third. Sagan gave an impressive performance, as did his teammates, who first helped him re-join the group after a puncture 8 km from the finish and then, with Daniel Oss, launched him towards the sprint. With victory in the first stage, Sagan is obviously also heading the overall, points and best young rider standings. Ted King is suffering from a painful knee, after falling a few kilometres before the finish.